"Do you think there's a mole in our gang?" I ask my parents when I get back.

"It's a possibility with all the shit we're dealing with. What specifically happened?" My mom asks.

"When we went to the dock, Evanescent was there to ruin the transaction," I say. "Can you guys redo background checks on every single person in our gang? I just have this nagging feeling..." I say.

"Of course, Sweetheart." My dad says.

"We'll tell you if we find anything out of the ordinary." My mom says.

"Thank you!" I say, hugging them.

I return to my room and get under my blanket. Should I call Ashton and tell him there might be a mole in my gang?

He decides not to work with me anymore. He stops being my friend and ignores me for the rest of my life. Shut up. If he thinks this alliance idea is stupid, he might just build connections with other gangs.

I stare at my phone and debate on calling him or not. I force myself to press on his contact to call and wait for him to pick up.

"Are you okay, Lynn?" Ashton immediately asks.

"I need to talk to you about something... in person," I say.

"Are you home?" He asks.

"Uh-huh," I answer.

"I'm leaving now." He says, ending the call.

Ashton drives us to Starbucks and lets me pay for our food and drinks. We sit at a table in the corner, and Ashton says, "There's something I need to tell you too..."

"You can go first!" I say.

He looks me in the eyes and says, "I like... I really like..." He looks away, sighs, and says, "I really like this drink."

I awkwardly chuckle and say, "That's nice! I think there's a mole in my gang."

He chokes on his drink and starts coughing. "Oh shit, are you okay?" I ask, patting his back.

"I'm good." He says, slightly wheezing.

"Do you know who the mole is?" Ashton asks.

"No... But I could be wrong. It's just that when I went to make a trade, Evanescent came and shot up the whole place. No one should have known we were there." I say.

"If that happened to you, I think there's a mole in my gang... We were buying ammunition from someone, and Evanescent ambushed us." Ashton says.

"Do you know who your mole could be?" I ask.

"Nope..." He says, sighing.

"What if there are two moles? Like one a part of your gang and one from mine? They could be working with Evanescent!" I say.

"Fuck." Ashton says, frustrated.

"We're going to get to the bottom of this," I say with determination.

"That was never in question. We're together on this." He says, matching my tone.

My mom hands me a stack of folders. "What's all of this...?" I ask.

"So we went through every single file and didn't find anything suspicious. But we wanted you to check and see if you found anything." My mom says.

"Oh," I say.

"I'm sorry... I can try again if you'd like?" She asks, not knowing how to help. "Or I can look into all the people we work with? That one will take more time, but there could be a chance the mole isn't in our gang."

"That would help. Thank you so much for these files, though. I'll take a look at it with my perspective, and maybe I'll be able to figure it out." I say.

"Maybe Ashton can help? You told me you talked about two moles, correct?" She asks.

"That's a great idea," I say, hugging her.

I place the folders on my desk and start flipping through each file. A few minutes later, I grab a pillow and scream into it. "Why does this have to be so complicated?!"

Soon it's midnight, and I decide to go to sleep. Probably sleeping, you idiot.

Shut up! Why are you even thinking about Ashton? You know what, I don't care! Just get him out of my mind. Author?

He doesn't make me smile!

😊

👋